Date visited: February 2008
Post written by Laura
Throwback Thursday!
I’ve gone back 15 years to the long weekend I spent in Marrakesh for my 40th birthday! At the time this was my third visit to Morocco having spent a day in Tangiers in 2005 and a week in Agadir in 2007. Thankfully I had written travel notes and taken plenty of photos at the time so putting this post together was quite easy.
Itinerary:
- Friday: late afternoon arrival in Marrakesh
- Saturday: explore Marrakesh
- Sunday: trip to Ourika Valley in the Atlas Mountains
- Monday: return home
I was excited to be visiting Marrakech and these are the words written while on the plane before arriving: “I have a romantic image of a quaint old fashioned stone walled city full of camels, spices and carpets. Yet reality tells me it is likely to be large, busy, dusty and full of cars and traffic!” Guess which was correct?
My friend and I landed in Marrakesh just before it began to get dark, at around 5:30 pm (Marrakesh has the same time difference as the UK). Having arrived from England in February we were delighted that the temperature in Marrakesh was a warm and sunny 25 degrees.
We took a taxi from the airport to the hotel and were driven through sand coloured buildings and hotels looking magical under a sky of various shades of pink, warm apricot and gold. Surprisingly there were no high rise grey concrete hotels; all were in keeping with traditional Moroccan architecture, with ornate windows, tiles and patterns. Marrakesh was so far exceeding my expectations!
Following an evening meal and a comfortable night in our hotel we set off on Saturday morning for our first full day in Marrakesh. We had consulted with the hotel receptionist and booked tickets for a berber trip to the Atlas mountains for the following day and paid a deposit for tickets for the hop on hop off sightseeing bus for today.
We walked for 15 minutes from the hotel to the start of the bus tour and had to wait around for it to arrive. Following the previous evenings pleasant and dreamy introduction to the city, now was time for a reality check with large volumes of traffic complete with thick choking smog and diesel fumes as we waited. There were a couple of route options and when the jop on hop off bus did arrive we sat upstairs in the open air top deck of the sightseeing bus which took us on the ‘monuments’ tour.
Along the route was the Koutoubia Mosque which is the largest mosque in Marrakesh. Non-muslims are unable to go inside the mosque.
Driving through the streets of Marrakesh…
During the tour of the monuments we got off at the stop for Jemaa el Fna square, the famous square of Marrakech.
Unfortunately there were hundreds of horses and carts, which gave me an allergy attack resulting in an instant swelling of eyes and throat 😦 We walked into Jeema el Fna but as soon as we took any photos in and around the square people were asking for money, thinking we had taken photos of them (or rather implying we were taking photos of them as an excuse to ask for the cash).
Located between the old and new sections of Marrakesh, Jemaa el Fna means ‘assembly of the dead’ as around 1050 AD this was the site of public executions. Marrakesh’s old Medina was built around Jemaa el Fna and this famous square attracts visitors from around the world.
Jeema el Fna square was busy, loud and scruffy. It was a hussle bussle of tourists and locals who were performing all sorts of tricks from snake charmers to acrobats.
We walked across the square and escaped into a café, where we sat on the second floor and had a good view of the square. It felt safe to take photos from there too! We sat in the warm sun and had a drink although I still felt uncomfortable with the allergy attack and didn’t have any antihistamines with me.
From the café we went into a souk which was very much like any other I had been to. Spices, nuts, sweets, dead chickens etc, all piled high and waiting to be sold. None of it looked very appealing or maybe back then I was more narrow minded but we kept our heads down and walked through quickly.
We left the square and had to walk past the horses again. This time, I was finding it difficult to breath but fortunately it wasn’t long before the sightseeing bus arrived.
We travelled back to the bus stop where we had started, meaning we had done a complete circuit. My eye lids had swollen and I was short of breath I and I could feel my throat getting narrower. We found a café where I had some ice-cream which was soothing.
The other sightseeing trip was scheduled to depart within half an hour, so we decided to go on that… the ‘romantic’ trip as it happened… (although to be clear – this was not a ‘romantic’ weekend away by any means… just a trip with an old friend).
We sat on the top of this bus and drove around the outskirts of Marrakech. It wasn’t exactly scenic, or indeed romantic, but it was good to have a break away from the diesel fumes and smog. We drove through the dusty areas with palm trees and the odd camel before arriving at a bus stop back at our hotel.
Later that evening we went to the hotel opposite and had a drink in their ‘Aladdin’ bar, which was very nice and beautifully decorated. We stayed and enjoyed had a meal in their restaurant. Although it was Italian, they also served Moroccan food, so I had lamb tagine. I asked for extra vegetables, rather than just the meat dish. The food was nice, but the lamb was a bit fatty and the vegetables were cooked in butter!
Ourika Vally in the Atlas Mountains
My 40th birthday!
We had breakfast, then waited on this fairly warm and fairly sunny morning for the tour mini-bus to arrive to take us on our trip to the Ourika Valley. The bus was late, but eventually did arrive.
The Ourika Valley is about 60 km from Marrakesh and populated mostly by berbers, an ethnic population of indigenous people living a traditional lifestyle.
We drove off to the mountains and as we approached the valley, the minibus driver made several stops for us to take photos of small berber villages and landscapes. During one stop, we watched some local women making nut oil.
During another stop, we walked across a rickerty rope bridge across a river which only took 4 people at a time.
After several small stops eventually we disembarked the mini bus and met our walking guide. We walked up the rocks and uneven path, stepping over stones and criss-crossing streams as we made our way up the mountain. It was also quite hard work and slippery in places.
Once we reached the top we headed back down again, and back to the mini bus.
We continued until we reached the Setti Fatma waterfall and had a clamber about there for a while. We could see the snow-capped mountains, not far away and now we needed our jackets as it was slightly chilly up in the mountains.
Following all of that exertion it was time for lunch. The mini bus driver drove us to a restaurant, where we sat round a small round table with our fellow tour guests and had lunch. Lunch was delicious – a lovely salad for starters, then traditional Moroccan food for the main course. This was followed by a plate of oranges, some almond biscuits and mint tea.
Finally, the coach took us back to Marrakesh where we arrived back at the hotel at just after 5 pm.
Accommodation
We stayed in the Hotel Tichka a beautiful Moroccan style building with a calming and relaxing ambience. Upon arrival, a porter took our luggage to the spotlessly clean room which was all mod cons (including a high tech flat screen wall mounted TV) but with beautiful traditional décor.
The hotel had a gorgeous traditional style lounge bar with cosy little seating areas and complete with a real fire. The bar served beers, wine and cocktails; we enjoyed drinks in there on the first evening and were given complimentary nuts and olives.
There were two restaurants and on the Friday we had a lovely dinner the large French restaurant complete with a bottle of local red wine.
On the Sunday evening we had another meal in the traditional Moroccan restaurant, complete with belly dancer and live Moroccan music.
Breakfast was good with the usual buffet type stuff, although not the very best I’ve had. I tried a traditional Moroccan pancake with honey with was tasty and freshly cooked.
Sadly, 15 years later this hotel seems to have massively deteriorated! I looked on Trip Advisor and the recent reviews are terrible! I think it may have now closed down. That’s a real shame.
Summary
A brief reflection of my time in Marrakech…. this was a fairly relaxing break rather than a full-on mad dash of sightseeing. In my view, the Jemaa el Fna square is over-rated although this could be due to my visit being during the day when things are quieter. Apparently this place becomes alive with a mass of mayhem and activity at night time with more street entertainers and exotic smells from the street food. I enjoyed the trip to the Atlas mountains which was a great introduction to the traditional Berber lifestyle.
And a big lesson learned on this trip was to always ensure I carry anti-histamines on trips of this nature!
frombluetogreen.com 